THE INNOCENT: Jill Ireland returns as Marion Raven who, at one point, was positioned to become a recurring character. At the time married to David McCallum, her character is made to prefer Illya to Solo, and whatever reflection she made after her first episode, Marion is quite untrusting of Solo and a more fun character for it. Because the villains would recognize the photographer daughter of one of their victims, she's to be the bait in Solo's trap, if she can be convinced to leave her apartment filled with party people (spoiler: she can).
REVIEW: A very clever and witty sequel to The Quadripartite Affair (episode 3), its strange title actually a chess move that forces a player to expose their Queen, in this case the formidable Gervaise Ravel (Anne Francis). Chess is a leitmotif in the episode, prefigured by a chess player in the early party scene, and used by Solo as a metaphor for his and Ravel's moves and countermoves throughout the episode. The episode really only has two flaws. One is Agent Smith, the Man from UNCLE who is killed by the villains as he climbs a rock face towards their current hideout, an assistant director with little acting power, whose narration of his own doom is as flat as it is wooden. The other is the use of "Indians" played by white stuntmen dressed as movie Apaches which once again seem to be the only henchmen available on Caribbean islands. Embarrassing. But otherwise, a lot to like.
In addition to Ravel, the sequel requires her financial partner Bufferton (they were the undefeated two of the Quadripartite) - and reveals they are villains in love, aww - and heroic Innocent, Marion Raven. It's great fun to see Illya try to recruit her during a party in her apartment, with various members of the crew in attendance. The frustrated chess player is producer Norman Felton, the writer who takes his cues from overhearing the agent is the show's script editor Joseph Calvelli, and UNCLE creator Sam Rolfe is in there as a Texas. The episode's director, Richard Donner, is the only one of these characters with lines, and he's looking for a milk bottle full of gin. It's a great scene, and when we return Marion home in the epilogue, the party's still going four days later, Marion refuses to let Solo talk to any of the guests lest he recruit them for dangerous missions, and he can't even "take one home" (one of the few allowances for his sex appeal in an episode where Illya is the romantic lead - the other is a knockout kiss at ANOTHER party; they really splurged on extras in this one).
The mission has as many reversals as the writer could include. A sinister figure in a fright mask bumps into the photographer taking pictures of the "tourists", but it turns out to be Illya, secretly on the island, and it's the photog who is working for the villains. A tracker placed in a locket will be meant to be discovered because Marion has instead been surgically implanted with another. A killer tries for Solo in the busy streets, but Illya get him. The baddies settle for Marion, but they were supposed to, and Solo only feigns being unhappy about surrendering to save her life. He's working with the local police, see, but he'll be completely rumbled by Ravel, she'll disappear thanks to a body double and the aforementioned kiss, and Manuera, the most responsible copper on the island, will have been bought anyway and isn't coming in for a rescue. Indeed, when Solo wakes up, covered in ticker tape, when a wine bottle rolls at his head on the deck of the villains' yacht, Manuera is there to keep him on the boat and out of trouble. He may be corrupt, but he's no murderer, which is how Solo knows the boat is sure to explode, taking them all away. Manuera will flip-flop a couple more times before the end. And Solo knows when to stop trusting him. It's all highly entertaining.
I remain intrigued by Ravel's attitude during her confrontation with Solo. Her reaction to his asking about chess, suddenly uncomfortable. What was that about? Solo does say too much, and she puts everything together from his veiled allusions to the game. She suddenly knows about the extra tracker, about Solo's hidden gun, about Illya being on the island, everything. It costs him, but he's been such a schemer to date, you almost expect it all to be part of the plan. Meanwhile, Illya gets up to some more physical action, rescuing Marion (who gives as much as she gets, punching Ravel in the jaw before making a run for it) and killing Bufferton. Though the California mountains aren't exactly Caribbean, Donner knows how to shoot locations so they look amazing, enlivening what is otherwise a fairly rote chase. The script doesn't forget that high altitudes make it harder to breathe, which is another nice detail. It all ends back in town with a final triple-cross and Solo cruelly goading Ravel about her dead "king".
HEARD ON CHANNEL D: "Well, they know me. If I were to show up in the area, they'd try and kill me. Would that help anything?" "Only Mr. Kuryakin, who is next in line for promotion." (Solo and Waverly)
"Sometimes, the most obvious is the most devious." (Solo)
"You agreed to overlook my temporary corruption, Mr. Solo. But I found that my sudden wealth was too enjoyable to discard. I joined your enemies again. You should have realized I was not to be trusted." (Lieutenant Manuera)
"It's the end of the game, Gervaise. Queens, the knights, the pawns have all made their moves. Your king is lost.It's check... and mate." (Solo)
BONDED: From afar, Agent Smith looks a lot like Roger Moore, who will one day play James Bond. And though it's a second Caribbean island location in a row, one has to wonder if that was considered the height of exoticism in this era, with Dr. No having also used it.
REWATCHABILITY - High: An enduringly good episode, everyone is having fun and so am I.
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